Nrsingha Caturdashi at SJMKL
Posted by iskconklnews on June 5, 2009
By Organizing team of Sri Nrsingha Caturdasi 2009
“I offer my respectful obeisances unto You, Lord Nrisimhadeva. You are the giver of pleasure to Prahlada Maharaja, and your nails cut the chest of Hiranyakashipu like a chisel cutting stone.”
Just to prove that the statement of His servant Prahlada maharaja was substantial, that the Supreme Lord is present everywhere, even within the pillar of an assembly hall –
the Supreme personality of Godhead, Hari exhibited a wonderful form never before seen.
The form was neither that of a man nor that of a lion.
Thus the Lord appeared in His wonderful form in the assembly hall.
SB 7.8.17
To celebrate this divine appearance of the Supreme Lord in that beautiful form of Narasingha, who descended in order to protect His pure devotee Sri Prahlada, the congregation of SJMKL gathered to celebrate the glorious Narasimha Caturdasi on the auspicious Friday, 8th May 2009, to seek His protection and blessings to mercifully purify our hearts and give us the desire to serve Lord Krsna for He is the saviour for those who are helpless who desire to seek refuge in Him.
The organizing committee comprised of faithful servants belonging to a particular Namahatt have been committed to co-ordinate this divine event for the 10th time for the pleasure of Lord Nrsingha and the devotees. Services have begun months and weeks in advance to bring upon the success of the festival, which is to please Lord Nrsingha and leaving everlasting impression in the heart of the devotees as they always do.
The programs for the festival were specially line up for the grand celebration in the evening beginning with Abishek ceremony accompanied by bhajans at 7pm onwards. By Gaura Arati crowd began filling the temple hall decorated with floral arrangements by devotees. First in the 10 years of experience in coordinating the Nrsingha Festival, the organizing team expressed their good fortune to have a beautiful gold colored decorative pillars and throne as Sringhasana for Lord Nrsingha, courtesy of HG Siddhi Sadhana das prabu.
Devotees and guests were welcomed with devotees giving out Nrsingha oil and blessed strings. Special feature of this year’s festival is the Nrsingha kum kum and Laxmi Nrsingha photo from South India sent by HG Uttama Caitanya das prabu (temple president) 3 days before the festival day, which was distributed to each family.
Devotees then were treated with a half an hour slide presentation which portrayed the divine forms of Nrsingha deity in Mayapur. The presentation to a packed hall captured the hearts of the devotees and gained their focus on the forms of Lord who is the death of the death personified thus gave the meditative mood on Lord Nrsingha to prepare for the most awaited agenda of the night, the Group Prayers.
The Group Prayers is the most important feature of Sri Nrsingha Caturdasi to beg for the Lord’s blessing and protection comprising 108 names of Lord Nrsingha, Nrsingha kavacam, Nrsingha Pranam and Dasavatara sloka. The singing and chanting led by different devotees did leave strong devotional and prayerful mood in each one of us as well and it is an undisputed fact that the strong protection by the Lord is clearly felt. Throughout the whole process which lasted for about 30-40 minutes, one can strongly feel the vibration of the heart pleading for Lord Nrsingha’s protection as well as the intensity of prayerful mood outside us, the temple hall, just like the pranam goes “bahir Nrsimha, hrdaye Nrsimha…’.
The culmination of the festival was a half an hour drama by the TASK team portraying the life of a sincere devotee of Lord Nrsingha who performs heroic acts to protect the world by risking his own life based only on his unflinching faith in Lord Nrisngha. Being a surrendered soul to the Lord, and to his great fortune, he was protected by the Lord Himself when he succumbed to troubles.
The night came to an end with Sayana Arati and ghee lamp offering. The organizing team’s servant leaders wish to extend their gratitude to thank the Lord that despite the humid, the weather has been excellent and well facilitated the festival. Although the programs began an hour late being a working day, the programs were kept on schedule. The team also wishes to thank each and every devotee who has come together to contribute toward the success of the festival. The organizing committee derives great pleasure in co-coordinating the event and taking a humble position as servants of the temple congregation, seeking blessings from all Vaishnavas for their continuous rendition of such services for the pleasure of the Lordships and the devotees.
“I offer my respectful obeisances unto Lord Nrisimhadeva, the source of all power.
O my Lord who possesses nails and teeth just like thunderbolts, kindly vanquish our demon-like desires for fruitive activity in this material world. Please appear in our hearts and drive away our ignorance so that by Your mercy we may become fearless in the struggle for existence in this material world.”
(Srimad-Bhagavatam, 5.18.8)
Sri Sri Lakshmi Narasimha ki Jaya
Sri Sri Prahlada Maharaja ki Jaya
Srila Prabhupada ki Jaya
